The weather that passed through down here last night seems to be the tail end of what is approaching to clobber everyone in the north as well. Will your visitors be carrying bookcases out in a blizzard? That composter would have had a welcome home here, but the trip to pick it up would be a hefty one!

The big backyard hackberry that is in danger of falling on (take your pick) the garage, the greenhouse, the dog kennel (or all three simultaneously) or the fence or the tree next door or even smashing into the yard next door and taking the fence with it is coming out today. Conditions are sodden out there, my handiman friend offered to do the job yesterday but wind was threatening and I had appointments. Now it looks like yesterday might have been easier because the winds didn't really start till about 5:30 and it was still dry. Hindsight is 20:20.

We have a couple of more days of dry weather before the next rain passes through so I suspect this weekend will be one for digging in the yard. It needs at least today to dry out a bit before I try it.

The dogs bark periodically when something thumps out back - I'll take photos of the tree removal progress, partly based on when they make a fuss so I can go out to look. They're in the house today, for obvious reasons - mostly they'd be underfoot, but also the gate will be open and Zeke doesn't have a collar to keep him in the yard.

It goes pretty fast, though this tree is much taller and a larger volume of wood to haul to the dump than the last tree he took out, a pine in the front yard. Too bad we don't have a chipper, I'd have a lifetime supply of mulch. As it is, I'm still getting mulch a few blocks away where that neighbor had a regular tree company come in to do work with the chipper truck they bring along. They left the chips for her but she has way more than she can use. My guy may be taking this to the recycling company nearby - they have a big chipper. That would be better than the dump.

Another paroxysm of barking - time to head out to see what's up (or down).